2. 2007

Chimney Complex Fire - Waha, ID

55,000 acres burned in Hell's Canyon, and they stuck Alaskans into the inferno.
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Cim and Mal Smyth, brothers, relaxing in camp.
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Cim and Mal Smyth, brothers, relaxing in camp.

IdahoFirefightingChimney Complex2007Places I've Lived However Briefly

  • The crew arrives and begins setting up an initial camp.
  • Indian leg wrestling occupied a few minutes of peace before we were given an assignment.
  • Jeremy Mothershead waits for a ride out to our station on the fireline.
  • Our camp was well furnished here, this time with benches made from nearby downed trees. Michael Mulcahy did the saw work.
  • The crew pieces together our camp benches.
  • Michael Mulcahy carves a notch in the bench to add some legs for height.
  • As evening progressed, our flank of the fire made a run up a hillside one valley over. Michael Mulcahy stands in front of the smoke.
  • The crew moves gear down to camp on a ridgeline with help from some kind property owners who happened to be watching the fire nearby.
  • Quick plans were established by crew boss Josh Leutzinger after dark: Should the fire cross the creek at the base of our ridge during the night, we were to be out of our sleeping bags and ready to fight in 45 seconds. We slept with our boots on.
  • Cim and Mal Smyth, brothers, relaxing in camp.
  • Members of the crew put our camp benches to good use: Andy Zola, Jeremy Mothershead, Ben Keggi, Aaron Seaton, and Michael Mulcahy.
  • Adam Webber prepares for the 4-4-30 challenge. Drink four quarts of water in four minutes and hold it down for thirty seconds.
  • Adam downed two quarts before failing.
  • Daniel Skirloff and Saba stand waiting for the work to start one morning.
  • Left without an assignment for a day, our crew beefed up the fireline on our ridgeline, building smaller breaks around old structures in the area and limbing up the trees.
  • A lookout for a crew working in the valley below spins a weather reading under a freshly limbed tree.
  • Sarah Quimby
  • Michael Mulcahy runs his saw, cutting the lower limbs from a tree to remove fuel that could spread fire into the canopy.
  • The end of each day is a ritual cleaning of the saws, ensuring that they'll work great when we pick them up again in the morning.
  • Working in the lower 48 states gave us a few pleasant surprises, one of which was the catered food flown out to our camp by helicopter.
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